


Day 336

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [336]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 11:01:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27849846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [336]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 2





	Day 336

Anders, one again, made the trip across the harbor to the Gallows. These were not the ideal circumstances for what he had planned, but he would be waiting for an eternity if he held for the perfect moment. Meredith was at the Keep with a large number of templars, even more of the order were camped outside the Alienage awaiting the results of the meetings that day. There had never been fewer templars guarding the Circle.

Anders had contacted the mage underground. He hated what it had become. Run by the resolutionists, they engaged in blood magic freely and used their powers to rule over their fellow men. But he had no other allies in the city on all of Thedas really. Hawke liked the idea of mage freedom in the abstract, but he was too tied to the established order of the world to do what was necessary. The resolutionist would do anything.

As soon as they made their move the templars would send for reinforcements and Meredith would return in force. They could try to kill the messengers first but it was foolish to plan on that. They would have to rely on speed to liberate the Circle. Once the mages were free, they would not go quietly back to their cells, or so Anders hoped.

They must cry out for freedom and for Justice. How could they not?

The moment the boats hit the docks spells were flying. Anders froze two templars solid and then shattered them with his staff. He followed the resolutionists through the courtyard. They sent their blood thralls in first and they absorbed the first wave of defense the templars mustered, leaving the mages time to draw on their strongest magics. Justice hated the thralls, men and women denied their freedom was what Justice had been opposing when Anders first met him. But everyone was making compromises today.

Templars fell like mice to cats before their first volley. Everything was going well until they reached the Circle gates. The templars had managed to fortify the entrance from both physical and magical attack.

Anderd heard a mighty roar and was flung aside by a Pride demon as it charged the gar gate. It blasted the templars aside with an electrical burst and then tore the portcullis out of the wall.

Anders got shakilly to his feet. He had rolled out of direct view of the gate but could hear the battle that raged there. One of the resolutionists stumbled, her flesh twisting and bursting into flames as she became a rage abomination. Anders froze her solid before she could rip into her former comrades.

He was about to rejoin the battle when movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. He whirled around to see the tranquil elf he had encountered the last time he was in the Gallows. He aimed his staff at her preparing to stun her with a bolt of spirit energy, but she sidestepped the attack with the grace of a veterin warrior. Anders tried to spin the blade of his staff around to attack with but again she avoided his attack. This time, by stepping inside the range of his weapon where he could not effectively use the staff for either magical or physical attacks. 

Anders let go of his staff with one hand, bringing it to his template and preparing a mind blast to send the tranquil back into a range where he would have the advantage. He never got the chance.

He didn’t even see the knife until it was in his throat. His animal instincts kicked in and he clutched the handle with his free hand. He was too weak to resist when the elf wrenched his staff from his other hand. Anders dropped to his knees and watched as she made a run for the boats. There were more demons in the courtyard now, and they attacked her before she reached the water. Anders expected her to die quickly but she used Anders’s staff like a spear to fend them off. The tranquill used techniques Anders had learned during his brief time with the Wardens.

He would have to ponder that mystery later. Anders focused on the blade that was blocking his airway. Between Justice and his own healing abilities, he was not in danger of dying so long as he could get the dagger out before he ran out of air. The problem was, it had buried itself in one of his vertebrae and between the pain and lack of air he was having trouble working it loose. He had to fight every instinct he had to wiggle it free, cutting his neck even more. 

By the time he could breathe again the tranquil elf was out of his view. It looked as though the resolutionist were losing but Anders was confident he could help turn the tide. That was, at least, until he pushed through the gate into the Circle to see Orsino and several other mages fighting beside the templars.

That was too much for Justice who took complete control now.

“You dare to side with your oppressors,” it bellowed with Anders’s mouth. His recently healed throat burned with each word. “You would let your cowardice deny Justice to your fellows.”

“Be gone demon,” Orsino shouted back. “You rip the veil with every step you take into this place.”

“Then join us,” Justice shouted. “End the battle quickly and decisively.”

Orsino slammed the resolutionists with kinetic force, straight down into the ground. Anders felt the air driven from his jungs, denying Justice the ability to vent his rage to the world.

“There are children here,” Orsino snarled at the resolutionists. “They have not the training to defend themselves against the demons you bring. Several are already possessed. Do not claim to have our interests at heart when your attack would kill half of us without your templars having to lift a finger.”

“You souls cry out for Justice,” Justice said as Anders’s breath returned to them. “Freedom is within your grasp.”

“And do you have a secret fortress somewhere for us to hide in?” Orsino demanded. “Your freedom will not follow us beyond the walk of Kirkwall. You offer only death.”

“The Chantry,” Justice began but Orsino cut it off with another burst of kinetic energy that sent Anders across the courtyard. Anders felt several bones shatter at the impact. They began healing immediately but could not attack Orsino as he laid waste to the resolutionists and their demons.

“The Chantry,” the old elf laughed. “Thar Chantry is changing. Meredith is terrible but she is mortal. We can outlast her. The Divine is far less severe and we can use that to our advantage, but not if we force her to be our enemy.”

Anders was able to regain just enough control to force Justice to retreat. They had lost. The resolutionists, the few that still lived, were fleeing with their thralls back to the boats. More templars were on their way from the far side, but if they went to the open sea they could escape. The attack was a failure, all that was left was survival.

The templars would come looking for them but the advantage of being an abomination was that when Justice fully manifested, it rendered Anders unrecognizable. Justice perpetually in the present but Anders could learn. He could recover his strength and try again. His mistake was trusting the mages of the Circle to seize their chance for freedom when it arrived. Next time he would not give them the chance to refuse.


End file.
